The Season Kick-Off: From Sonata Shakedowns to Chichester Chasing Hadron H2's
The cobwebs weren't just blown away last night; they were practically flash-frozen. My brother Adam and I headed out for our first club race of the season in our Sonata and it was a sharp reminder that I am back in the UK.
From my recent posts you may know that I’ve just returned from spending the winter in Antigua, where the only thing "chilled" is the rum punch and the water is a balmy 27°C.
Stepping onto the Sonata on a sunny day in Portland Harbour in April was fine but as the sun got lower in the sky, the temperature dropped to a level that was, let's say, "character-building".
While I was attempting to re-establish that familiar sibling shorthand, the one where Adam and I communicate in half-finished sentences like "trim the...", "watch the..." or even "What the..." , most of my internal dialogue was actually focused on wondering if it would be okay to suggest that, rather than finishing the race, we just go to the bar early instead. My blood has clearly thinned somewhat during my winter, and last night’s temperature drop was a rude awakening.
Despite the thermal shock, it was a classic evening of close-quarters racing. It served as the perfect, if somewhat shivering, appetizer for the weekend ahead.
I understand it has been a wet winter in the UK (I wouldn't know as I was in the Caribbean Tee hee), and it seems to me that there is a specific kind of hum in the air. It’s the collective intake of breath from the sailing community as we realise the winter hibernation is finally over.
This weekend, that hum turns into a roar of Rib on trailer traveling along the M27 as I head towards Chichester. to photograph the first Hadron H2 Open Meeting of the year.
I have worked with these carbon-composite thoroughbreds before and as they take to the water, my job will be to ensure that their raw speed and elegance are frozen in time. From the comfort of the RIB where I can keep moving enough to stay warm.
Launching the "Mobile Studio"
Some of you may remember, back in the 80s, Adam and I navigated the open meeting circuit in "Geoff," our 3-litre V6 Ford Granada hearse. We believed that it was the ultimate vehicle for sailmakers, even if it did occasionally terrify children on the M6 who thought they were witnessing a Lazarus-style miracle when Adam moved in the back. It was all about the convenience of being able to put sails, booms, rudders, wet sailing kit, etc., in the lower deck whilst leaving the top deck as accommodation.This weekend, my utility vehicle will be a bit more buoyant, but the goal remains the same: the right tool for the job. This week will be my first attempt at bringing my own RIB to the party (It's actually Adam's RIB but he's coaching Cadets at South Cerney so he won't need it.)
The plan for Saturday morning starts at the slipway. There’s a meditative ritual to launching a RIB—the smell of salt air, the mechanical click of the winch, and that first satisfying splash as the hull meets the Chichester tide, trying not to back the car so far down the slipway that the rear hubs get wet..
Chichester is a stunning backdrop, notorious for its shifting sands and tricky currents. Finding the right "pitch" to set up my floating studio is key and the RIB is a fantastic tool for exactly that; I will be in control of my own destiny, able to position myself wherever the action dictates and I am not taking a rescue boat out of the safety fleet. The proximity it grants me to the windward mark is fantastic. The other big plus is that this RIB has a large floor area for landing the drone. Again, those of you who know me might recall that my latest drone is named "Mambo number five" as its four predecessors all met a watery end (watery ends?).
The Toolkit: A Three-Pronged Attack
To do justice to the H2s, I’m bringing a suite of equipment that would make Merlin from Kingsman nod in approval. Each piece of gear serves a very specific purpose:1. The Nikon DSLR: The Soul of the Action
My Nikon remains the heavy hitter. When a sailor is hiked out, muscles strained, with the bow wave curling perfectly off the carbon hull, I want the tack-sharp focus and "colour science" that only a high-end sensor and glass can provide. These are the "hero shots" that tell each sailor's story of the day.2. The Insta360 X3: The Immersive Angle
The joy of the X3 is that it captures a full 360-degree field of view, it’s the ultimate tool for capturing the action, and it allows me to reframe the footage later to show exactly how close the fleet gets to the mark (and my tubes!).
3. The DJI Drone: The Eye in the Sky ( I hope that's not a copyright infringment)
Weather and restricted airspace permitting, Mambo number five will be my "eye in the sky." From this bird’s-eye view, the invisible becomes visible: the headers, the lifts, and the tide that define the winner’s lane.The "Why": More Than Just Pretty Pictures
From my days as a sailmaker, I’ve never been able to look at a fleet of boats without analysing the rigs. That "sailmaker’s eye" never really goes away. While I’m behind the lens this weekend, I’m looking at leech tension, mast bend, rake...you know the story..This leads into the most vital part of the weekend:
The Evening Debrief.
Once the boats are tucked up on their trolleys, we’ll be heading into the clubhouse. I’ll be plugging the day’s captures into the big screen to lead a technical discussion. Photography is a powerful coaching tool; it’s one thing to tell a sailor they were not using enough kicker at the start and that's why they could not hold their lane, but it’s another thing to show them the drone footage of their sail compared to the leader's.
We’ll be diving deep into:
- The Start: Analysing who had the clean air and who was buried in the second row.
- Sailing Techniques: Using the high-res Nikon shots to look at body position and heel angle.
- Mark Roundings: This is where the drama happens and where places are gained and lost. We’ll use the footage to look at the efficiency of the turns and the tactical "room" given.
A New Season, A New Chapter
There is something incredibly refreshing about the start of a new season. After shaking off the Caribbean warmth and the English rust in the Sonata last night, I’m primed and ready to capture the H2 fleet in all their glory.For me, this weekend represents the perfect marriage of my two great loves: the technical nuance of competitive sailing and the creative challenge of maritime photography. I might not be driving a Coleman Cardinal hearse anymore (though I still miss "Geoff" and his 3-litre V6), but the thrill of "getting a great shot" is exactly the same.
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